Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Panama and from Jakarta.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1960 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Aswad to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Sam Rivers. All the underground hits.
All The Jesus and Mary Chain tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Carl Craig record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Invisible record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Chris & Cosey,
Curtis Mayfield,
Bush Tetras,
Pet Shop Boys,
Gang of Four,
The Residents,
Agitation Free,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
the Association,
Lou Christie,
Robert Wyatt,
The United States of America,
Mars,
Banda Bassotti,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Associates,
Tom Boy,
Jacques Brel,
The Dead C,
The Tremeloes,
Gang Starr,
Lebanon Hanover,
Bobby Byrd,
Adolescents,
Alton Ellis,
Joe Smooth,
Kerri Chandler,
Sparks,
Pulsallama,
Aural Exciters,
Scientists,
Joey Negro,
Tubeway Army,
Spandau Ballet,
This Heat,
Von Mondo,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Gladiators,
Simply Red,
The Martian,
Livin' Joy,
Faraquet,
Massinfluence,
Stiv Bators,
the Sonics,
Davy DMX,
Hasil Adkins,
Fatback Band,
LL Cool J,
Peter and Kerry,
Magma,
Blake Baxter,
Tommy Roe,
The Golliwogs,
The Kinks,
Desert Stars,
Scott Walker,
Rekid,
E-Dancer,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Toni Rubio,
Selector Dub Narcotic, Selector Dub Narcotic, Selector Dub Narcotic, Selector Dub Narcotic.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.